What does the Mutual Life company do?

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The Mutual Service Life Insurance Company, based in Minnesota, was a mutual life insurance company that converted into a publicly traded stockholder-owned company in 2005, according to the Texas Department of Insurance. Mutual Life was merged into Country Life Insurance in 2007 and no longer exists as a separate entity.

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Mutual Service Life was incorporated in 1934 and issued life insurance and group annuities, according to Bloomberg. When the company demutualized, its stock was purchased by Country Life and the 33,000 Mutual Service policyholders became eligible to receive a portion of the $45 million payout. Most policyholders were Minnesota residents and they were eligible to receive $400 - $80,000, according to the Iowa Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation.

In a mutual life insurance company, policyholders are part owners of the company, and premiums paid into the company often return a dividend. When a company is demutualized, policy owners may receive shares of stock, but ownership is also open to non-policyholders who can purchase publicly traded shares, according to Investopedia. Unclaimed proceeds from demutualization must be reported to authorities, says the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, and consumers can use the search tools on their website to track down missing any shares.